D&D 5E Let's talk about actually *creating* high-level content.

[Asisreo]

So there's a few discussions about playing high-level or perhaps running high-level, but I want to discuss the creation process from the DM's side about creating the high-level content through one-shots, adventures, monsters, encounters, or exploration.

This discussion can be advice, thoughts, opinions, comments, or just shared experiences.

I love high-level play as a DM because its where my imagination can go as far as I want and can come up with interesting challenges for my players.

For example, I am soon going to have my players attempt to fight an Adult Black Dragon alongside Black Puddings that ooze under its command in the lair as a one-shot. I have no clue exactly what characters they are going to bring but I have a few magic items like plate mail or acid resistance, arrows of dragon slaying, some good spell scrolls like 6th-level Protection from Energy and an 8th-level Cloud Kill, and quite a few potions.

The tricky thing, though, is that the lair is full of acidic lakes which the dragon swim in. The acidic lake heavily obscures whoever is in it and it does 10d10 damage per round to whoever is in it. Did I mention that the lair is actually located in the Plane of Water? Because it is and has various Antimagic and Wildmagic zones scattered about.

This is my definition of a cool adventure, at least in my mind, and its one of the reasons I absolutely adore high-level play. I didn't even get into the lore but perhaps that isn't necessarily limited in low level play anyways.

But I can put this type of challenge against my players and watch as they have to come up with a way to bypass the enemy's heavy defenses without worrying that this is a "guaranteed TPK." As long as the players are focused, I think they could surpass my challenge and we could have a another story we recount for months or even years.

 

[Stalker0]

In general I think the most important thing for a high level adventure is the ticking clock. The greatest pressure is time.

without time pressure, high level adventures have access to so many resources that they will win eventually. But with the clock they have to get creative.

“The world is going to end!”
“No problem!”
“In 30 minutes!”
“It just got interesting”

Beyond that, I agree with the OP that part of the fun of high level design is not worrying about your party. Again, you just assume that high level characters can basically do anything or get access to anything. So you can get zany and just assume they will figure it out.

 

[RangerWickett]

Yeah, survival of the characters is a decent motivator, but put something else in peril so that if the PCs just run, bad stuff will happen to something they care about.

 

[tetrasodium]

You either need to rework the rest mechanics into something less explosive than the default into something much more incremental that allows attrition or patch the problem by 100% using a tight doom clock closer to the one on half minute hero than anything fitting a plot. The default rest mechanics are close to the ttrpg equivalent of quake's ~givehealth 100<enter>
edit: The ravenloft book might offer you a new rest mechanic there as the attrition is important there

 

[Baron Opal II]

Look over your PC's capabilities and assume that they will use them. This includes specifically spells such as commune and legend lore. I would expect in the week before they set out a lot of informational magic and sagacious consultations will be made. If they walk in blind, well, their loss.

Remember that defenses that nullify PC abilities will / should nullify the same abilities for the dragon.

Throughout time in the real world, a straight up fight against a foe superior in numbers or strength is stupid! The dragon will not "fight fair". Its the PCs job to force a "fair fight" if not unfair to their benefit. And, since we have rules it can be "fairly unfair", if you get me.

Think in three dimensions, especially if aquatics play into it. You don't need a lake that does 10d10 acid damage. If everyone is fighting, swimming, dodging underwater let them take 1d10 acid damage per round. That's a concentration check each round, however easy it might seem. Furthermore, it adds a lot of mental pressure each time you say "Steve, beginning of your turn- take 1d10 damage. Now what do you want to do?" Remember to give the dragon a non-acid themed ally, servant, or mercenary. If this is an old and experienced black dragon, it has needed to anticipate foes that are resistant or immune to acid. How has it prepared for that?

Gold and silver, pre-industrially, are resistant to corrosion. Copper not so much. There are no pearls in a black dragon's trove.

A rule of thumb: It seems to me, without chase scenes or cat-and-mouse fights, that difficult combats take 3-7 rounds. Easy ones take 1-4 rounds. This has held fairly consistently through editions.

 

[Chaosmancer]

So, a few thoughts on my end about things and general and your one-shot in particular.

In particular? Zones always sound good, but in personal expeirence I have found players move very little unless they have to move to reach a new threat, or someone is running, so a lot of zones end up unused, or players end up on the edges of them. Additionally, this can be a lot of bookkeeping, especially if you want to make the zones dynamically move.

A busy battlefield slows things down.



Now, as to things I do for high-level play. Any fight I want to be memorable, I alter the statblocks. I don't even think at low-level play I keep boss monsters 100% RAW. Give them the ability to react to the players. Maybe instead of just using the f5ft line of 12d8 acid, the dragon sees the party has spread out and uses some magic to turn their breath into an acidic fog that does 5d8 damage every round (basing off of cloudkill) or they spray up and cover themselves in Acid, taking on the Black Pudding's rules for melee fighting.

Maybe you even fight dirty. The Dragon dives into the acid to avoid being seen, and those acid lakes connect, so it swims up, lunges out of the acid with a bite that grapples, and drags someone into the acid. Even if they have resistance, they will start suffocating, and that gives a new goal in the fight. Not just "beat it til it dies" but "SAVE JIM"

Also, as much as it slows things down, I have minions and I have lieutenants. You need a few different things being big threats and able to pull off unique abilities, because the players can shut down a single target. Legendaries help, obviously, but caging it in with a wall of force can still cut off the main threat and let them piecemeal an encounter, so it is generally better for higher level play when they are throwing so many powerful abilities to have multiple viable targets for those abilities.

Oh, also, in that line, maximize the Boss's hp. Just do it. A fighter PC and cleric PC can use Holy Weapon+PAM+Action surge+Superiority Dice and dish out 4d10+14d8+1d4+25 damage, which is an average of 112.5 damage, that is one turn that dealt 2/3rds of that dragons health. From a single turn. When you get to high levels PCs can burn down bosses so fast that they either have to be very hard to hit, or very very durable. Otherwise they fold in half the second the party has the time to fight them.

In terms of larger adventure structure? Be clever and put them in situations that require the loss of resources or a lot of time. Perhaps you have the door to the inner sanctum heavily warded, and you can either force yourself through and take damage, undo all the magic, or try and go around it by destroying the ruins that could explode and cause damage anyways. The players are levels 12 plus with magic items? They can handle this. Or maybe this place is so acidic and deadly that they take a single point of acid damage every round just for being inside the layer. It isn't a lot, but if they have to navigate the layer on top of fighting the dragon? That is going to add up.

 

[Asisreo]

Yeah, survival of the characters is a decent motivator, but put something else in peril so that if the PCs just run, bad stuff will happen to something they care about.

Oooh, this is especially relevant to adventures rather than one-shots.

Whenever a character makes it to high level, they'll usually have engaged with the world and their character in dynamic ways. Maybe they're loyal to an organization they weren't before because the organization had sent them aid in response to what they've done for them.

At that point, they'll start to care and threatening, while not ripping away, their connections they've made through organic play is much more interesting and gives both the player and the character a reason to fight outside of a vague "The fate of the world."

I also love showing them a potential reward rather than threatening them directly, especially for players that are somewhat adamant about not engaging because they're not great roleplayers. I could inform them that a weapon which would make their character more powerful and interesting is being held within the keep or that the gods are willing to impart a blessing or boon to anyone that wishes to engage with the whatever or yonder. Gives good organic motivation and makes the game fun to DM when players actually care about what's happening.

 

[Asisreo]

Does anyone have what they consider to be "cool monster synergy encounters?"

For example, Will-o-Wisps have great synergy with Banshees since a Banshee's wail can instantly drop a player and a Will-o-Wisp can basically finish them off quickly.

 

[Zardnaar]

Does anyone have what they consider to be "cool monster synergy encounters?"

For example, Will-o-Wisps have great synergy with Banshees since a Banshee's wail can instantly drop a player and a Will-o-Wisp can basically finish them off quickly.

There's lots of them the problem is why are they working togather?

I can do his ghblevel I don't enjoy running it. The setup is important. By that a mean location and any additional rules that apply to that location eg water, acid, fire.

Pay attention to any special movement forms.

 

[jgsugden]

Don't forget that the PCs will have high level magics at their disposal ... and you shouldn't try to make it irrelevant. The worst sin I see at high levels is when DMs use tricks to negate the abilities of the PCs so that they can have an encounter unfold as they planned it. The PCs should be able to use high level magics to bypass elements of the challenge - it is what makes it feel high level.